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{
"title": "Photographer hit by projectile, shoved by officers while covering LA protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photographer-hit-by-projectile-shoved-by-officers-while-covering-la-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2025-07-15T20:16:18.790907Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-07-16T17:12:23.956236Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-07-16T17:12:23.820460Z",
"date": "2025-06-14",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
"latitude": 34.05223,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"cem9p\">Freelance photojournalist Tod Seelie was shoved by police and struck by a crowd-control projectile while covering an immigration protest in downtown Los Angeles on June 14, 2025.</p><p data-block-key=\"2fn49\">The demonstration was one of many “No Kings” protests held across the country in opposition to President Donald Trump. In Washington, D.C., the protests coincided with a military parade marking the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Army. In LA, the political climate was already tense following a series of aggressive immigration raids across Southern California.</p><p data-block-key=\"fm3iq\">Seelie told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker he was trying to move through a line near downtown’s Grand Park when deputies with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department shoved him from behind. They were forming a containment line around demonstrators, and he was caught in the space between deputies and protesters.</p><p data-block-key=\"1f32f\">Seelie was wearing a helmet marked with a press patch and had media credentials around his neck, he said. As tensions escalated, a crowd-control projectile struck his right leg, leaving a bruise and a visible residue on his pants. Tear gas filled the area, affecting both protesters and journalists.</p><p data-block-key=\"68oh8\">“A lot of it I don’t know, because it was all happening at the same time,” said Seelie, speaking of when he was struck by the projectile. He said he doesn’t believe law enforcement had intentionally targeted him. Later that day, a group of <a href=\"/all-incidents/photographer-attacked-by-protesters-at-la-immigration-demonstration/\">people at the protest</a> attacked him for taking their photo.</p><p data-block-key=\"33jn8\">In a statement emailed to the Tracker, the Sheriff’s Department said it prioritizes maintaining access for credentialed media, “especially during emergencies and critical incidents.”</p><p data-block-key=\"25li1\">“The LASD does not condone any actions that intentionally target members of the press, and we continuously train our personnel to distinguish and respect the rights of clearly identified journalists in the field,” a public information officer wrote. “We remain open to working with all media organizations to improve communication, transparency, and safety for all parties during public safety operations.”</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/NoKingsProtest-TodSeelie-7.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"74nn6\">Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department personnel form a line during a “No Kings” protest in Los Angeles, California, on June 14, 2025. Freelance photojournalist Tod Seelie was pushed by deputies and struck with a projectile while covering the protest.</p>",
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"name": "California",
"abbreviation": "CA"
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"tags": [
"chemical irritant",
"immigration",
"protest",
"shot / shot at"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Tod Seelie (Freelance)"
],
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},
{
"title": "Photojournalist shot with pepper balls at Los Angeles ‘No Kings’ protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-shot-with-pepper-balls-at-los-angeles-no-kings-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2025-07-15T13:23:58.621708Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-07-15T13:23:58.621708Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-07-15T13:23:58.467550Z",
"date": "2025-06-14",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
"latitude": 34.05223,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"6vxgk\">Freelance photojournalist Madison Swart was shot with multiple crowd-control munitions by sheriff’s deputies while covering protests in Los Angeles, California, on June 14, 2025.</p><p data-block-key=\"cfeti\">The protest in downtown Los Angeles was one of hundreds of “No Kings” demonstrations held nationwide to counter a military parade attended by President Donald Trump in Washington, D.C., marking the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Army. It also followed<a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?date_lower=2025-06-06&date_upper=2025-06-13&state=California&tags=protest%2Cimmigration\"> days of protests</a> in the city and nearby towns against recent federal raids, part of the Trump administration’s larger immigration crackdown.</p><p data-block-key=\"33bc9\">Swart told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that she was covering the protest alongside other members of the press when Los Angeles Police Department officers deployed tear gas and she became separated from her “press safety buddies.”</p><p data-block-key=\"4hms9\">“I ended up on a terrace and I thought I was safe because on the street below was where the action was happening,” she said. “Then, all of a sudden, I feel, like, shooting at me.”</p><p data-block-key=\"dr916\">She said that it was only then that she noticed Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies coming across a bridge nearby and shooting at her. Initially the rounds hit the ground at her feet. Then they hit her chest.</p><p data-block-key=\"aq4go\">“I start to move, but then realize that there’s absolutely nowhere for me to go except forward to where the sheriffs are shooting,” Swart said. “So, I start to go do that. And I’m holding up my press card. I have ‘Press’ labels everywhere, all over me, and I’m holding up my camera in a kind of surrender while moving forward and saying, ‘I’m press! I’m press! I’m press!’”</p><p data-block-key=\"9e3vj\">The photojournalist said none of it made a difference.</p><p data-block-key=\"6sfv0\">“They shoot again, and I kind of just step backward and I’m not sure where to go. And then I try to go again, and then they shoot me again,” Swart told the Tracker. “They eventually let me go forward, and that was where I got the bruise.”</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-aligned_image\"><figure class=\"inline-media right\">\n \n\n\n<img src=\"https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Swart_assault_614.width-828.png\" width=\"828\" height=\"1104\" alt=\"COURTESY MADISON SWART\">\n\n \n <figcaption class=\"inline-media__caption\">\n\t\t\t<p data-block-key=\"07rmr\"><i>Freelance photojournalist Madison Swart photographed bruises to her arm from Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies repeatedly shooting her with crowd-control munitions amid protests in LA on June 14, 2025.</i></p>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<span\n\t\t\t\t\tclass=\"media-attribution\"\n\t\t\t\t> — COURTESY MADISON SWART\n\t\t\t\t</span>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t</figcaption>\n \n</figure>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"6vxgk\">Swart says she believes the initial rounds were pepper balls, but she can’t be sure what other crowd-control munitions hit her.</p><p data-block-key=\"eqopq\">“They were shooting so many things that I can’t tell you which was which,” she said.</p><p data-block-key=\"8723f\">She told the Tracker she was <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-struck-with-munition-at-los-angeles-no-kings-protest\">struck with another crowd-control munition</a> later that day, which she believes was likely a tear gas canister.</p><p data-block-key=\"8uaba\">In a statement emailed to the Tracker, the Sheriff’s Department said it prioritizes maintaining access for credentialed media, “especially during emergencies and critical incidents.”</p><p data-block-key=\"6lf11\">“The LASD does not condone any actions that intentionally target members of the press, and we continuously train our personnel to distinguish and respect the rights of clearly identified journalists in the field,” a public information officer wrote. “We remain open to working with all media organizations to improve communication, transparency, and safety for all parties during public safety operations.”</p><p data-block-key=\"bm90m\">Swart told the Tracker that her efforts to clearly identify herself as a journalist had proven futile. “Me saying press and being visible press and holding up my press pass in a surrender didn’t do shit. I was hoping that it would, but that was wishful thinking,” she said.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/20250614_USA-NO-KINGS-PROTEST-DOW.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"bq2wt\">Protesters gather in downtown Los Angeles on June 14, 2025, in opposition to the Trump administration and its immigration policy. Freelance photojournalist Madison Swart was struck with multiple crowd-control munitions while covering the demonstration.</p>",
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"name": "California",
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"tags": [
"chemical irritant",
"immigration",
"protest",
"shot / shot at"
],
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"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Madison Swart (Freelance)"
],
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{
"title": "Photographer struck and injured by tear gas canister at LA protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photographer-struck-and-injured-by-tear-gas-canister-at-la-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2025-06-24T17:02:44.424941Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-07-14T20:35:26.221542Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-07-14T20:35:26.137820Z",
"date": "2025-06-14",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
"latitude": 34.05223,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"ql2i2\">Photojournalist <a href=\"https://www.hectoradolfoquintanarperez.com/\">Héctor Adolfo Quintanar Pérez</a> was struck with a tear gas canister fired by police while documenting an immigration enforcement protest in Los Angeles, California, on June 14, 2025.</p><p data-block-key=\"d3vvl\">It was one of numerous protests in response to federal raids in and around LA of workplaces and areas where immigrant day laborers gathered, amid the Trump administration’s larger immigration crackdown. After demonstrators clashed with local law enforcement officers and federal agents, President Donald Trump called in the California National Guard and then the U.S. Marines over the objections of California Gov. Gavin Newsom and LA Mayor Karen Bass.</p><p data-block-key=\"c3cv4\">Quintanar, a Mexican stringer working for Zuma Press, said that at the start of the protest, a group of Los Angeles Police Department officers — some on horseback — arrived outside the Roybal Federal Building in downtown Los Angeles to disperse the crowd.</p><p data-block-key=\"au2eo\">According to Quintanar, officers pushed media members who were clearly displaying their press badges. About two minutes later, he was hit by a tear gas canister.</p><p data-block-key=\"48pqd\">“I was walking backward, trying to do my job. The officer simply fired from about three meters away,” Quintanar wrote in an email to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-aligned_image\"><figure class=\"inline-media right\">\n \n\n\n<img src=\"https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/495075587_1441142500220072_1885396325058906729.width-828.jpg\" width=\"828\" height=\"1241\" alt=\"Courtesy Héctor Adolfo Quintanar Pérez\">\n\n \n <figcaption class=\"inline-media__caption\">\n\t\t\t<p data-block-key=\"cumzz\">Photographer Héctor Adolfo Quintanar Pérez, on assignment for Zuma Press, was struck in the knees by a tear gas canister while covering a protest in Los Angeles, California, on June 14, 2025.</p>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<span\n\t\t\t\t\tclass=\"media-attribution\"\n\t\t\t\t> — Courtesy Héctor Adolfo Quintanar Pérez\n\t\t\t\t</span>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t</figcaption>\n \n</figure>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"ql2i2\">The canister ricocheted off both of his knees. Quintanar said he couldn’t tell whether he had been targeted intentionally because the officer was wearing sunglasses.</p><p data-block-key=\"fcl6i\">“The pain prevented me from working properly,” he said. “I couldn’t leave because we were blocked and surrounded, so I was forced to stay at the protests for a couple more hours while my wounds continued to bleed and worsen.”</p><p data-block-key=\"1ipqk\">Quintanar said he was returning to Mexico to seek medical treatment for his injuries and was struggling to walk.</p><p data-block-key=\"brlt8\">“The message it conveys is one of profound disappointment over the criminalization of our work as press officers,” he said. “Everything indicates that freedom of the press doesn’t exist, and they’re proud of it.”</p><p data-block-key=\"9tab5\">In a statement posted to social platform X, the Los Angeles Police Department said “deployments of less-lethal munitions were necessary to manage the crowds and prevent further harm to people or property.” The department’s professional standards bureau would investigate allegations of excessive force used during the protests, according to the statement.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/HQP_2629.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"pjthv\">Los Angeles Police Department officers with crowd-control munitions during an immigration enforcement protest on June 14, 2025. Photographer Héctor Adolfo Quintanar Pérez was injured by a tear gas canister that day while on assignment for Zuma Press.</p>",
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"protest",
"shot / shot at"
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"categories": [
"Assault"
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{
"title": "Photojournalist shot with crowd-control munition amid LA ‘No Kings’ protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-shot-with-crowd-control-munition-amid-la-no-kings-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2025-07-17T19:10:28.177485Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-07-17T19:10:28.177485Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-07-17T18:59:29.854098Z",
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"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"kws2t\">Freelance photojournalist Matthew Reamer was shot by police in the back with a crowd-control munition while he was covering a protest against the Trump administration in Los Angeles, California, on June 14, 2025.</p><p data-block-key=\"at100\">The protest in downtown Los Angeles was one of hundreds of “No Kings” demonstrations held nationwide to counter a military parade attended by President Donald Trump in Washington, D.C., marking the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Army. It also followed <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?date_lower=2025-06-06&date_upper=2025-06-13&state=California&tags=protest%2Cimmigration\">days of protests</a> in the city and nearby towns against recent federal raids, part of the Trump administration’s larger immigration crackdown.</p><p data-block-key=\"3r0us\">Reamer told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he arrived around 10 a.m. to cover protests outside Los Angeles City Hall for German outlet Die Zeit. When Reamer left a few hours later to file some photos, he described the protest as still peaceful.</p><p data-block-key=\"cvuli\">Reamer returned to the protest around 5 p.m., after he learned that Los Angeles Police Department officers were using force to disperse the crowds.</p><p data-block-key=\"4otuo\">Reamer started taking photos as police fired crowd-control munitions to disperse the demonstrators. “I was quite close to a few of them. I’m pretty sure they saw me,” Reamer said about the police.</p><p data-block-key=\"fs0iu\">Shortly after, stun grenades and a flurry of shots by the police prompted a small stampede of people, Reamer said. In the chaos, one of Reamer’s cameras fell, and a lens broke.</p><p data-block-key=\"a6r8i\">About 20 minutes after returning to cover the protest, Reamer was taking photos of protesters in the crowd of people when he said police shot him squarely in the back, between his shoulder blades.</p><p data-block-key=\"8ium0\">“It welted up and bruised and had some minor breakage of the skin,” Reamer told the Tracker. He added that he had been taking photos near the police line and had not heard any dispersal warnings.</p><p data-block-key=\"bl30a\">Reamer said that he believes he was targeted. It was a “perfect shot,” he said, right in the middle of his back. He also said he was clearly working as a journalist, wearing a press credential from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and carrying two large cameras.</p><p data-block-key=\"bt3mg\">“It was pretty obvious I was a member of the press,” he said. “It did feel like it was intentional.”</p><p data-block-key=\"eg0pa\">After being shot, Reamer said he took a moment to recover and then went back to covering the protest for a few more hours.</p><p data-block-key=\"2om4g\">Around 8 p.m., Reamer was behind the police line with other journalists as the police surrounded a group of protesters in a tactic known as kettling. After he moved closer to the police, Reamer said an officer turned around, grabbed him and pushed him back with the other journalists.</p><p data-block-key=\"43lsr\">Reamer told the Tracker that he hasn’t taken any legal action over the incidents.</p><p data-block-key=\"31als\">When reached for comment, the LAPD directed the Tracker to the department’s social media accounts. In a June 15 <a href=\"https://x.com/LAPDPIO/status/1934663901607809139\">statement posted to X,</a> the department acknowledged that LAPD officers used numerous “less-lethal rounds” when responding to the protests, but did not address the use of munitions against identifiable press.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"ch4k7\">Los Angeles police respond to protests against the Trump administration and its immigration policies at LA’s City Hall on June 14, 2025. Freelance photojournalist Matthew Reamer was shot with a crowd-control munition and shoved while documenting that day.</p>",
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{
"title": "Photojournalist struck with munition at Los Angeles ‘No Kings’ protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-struck-with-munition-at-los-angeles-no-kings-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2025-07-15T13:31:36.225057Z",
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"longitude": -118.24368,
"latitude": 34.05223,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"kuxre\">Freelance photojournalist Madison Swart was struck with a crowd-control munition fired by law enforcement while covering protests in Los Angeles, California, on June 14, 2025.</p><p data-block-key=\"43fat\">The protest in downtown Los Angeles was one of hundreds of “No Kings” demonstrations held nationwide to counter a military parade attended by President Donald Trump in Washington, D.C., marking the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Army. It also followed<a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?date_lower=2025-06-06&date_upper=2025-06-13&state=California&tags=protest%2Cimmigration\"> days of protests</a> in the city and nearby towns against recent federal raids, part of the Trump administration’s larger immigration crackdown.</p><p data-block-key=\"8atm6\">Swart told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that she was separated from the journalists she was reporting alongside for safety, and was <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-shot-with-pepper-balls-at-los-angeles-no-kings-protest\">repeatedly shot with crowd-control munitions</a> by Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department deputies while on a terrace above the main protest.</p><p data-block-key=\"92bta\">When she was able to reconnect outside City Hall with the other journalists — freelance journalist <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?targeted_journalists=Sean+Beckner-Carmitchel\">Sean Beckner-Carmitchel</a> and <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?targeted_journalists=Ryanne+Mena\">Ryanne Mena</a> of the Los Angeles Daily News — the group tried to cross a nearby thoroughfare during what appeared to be a lull in the action.</p><p data-block-key=\"1pk5v\">“There was the sheriff’s line and they were very far ahead, we weren’t anywhere near them,” Swart said. “We thought it was a good time to cross, but just as we started to do that they started shooting at us.”</p><p data-block-key=\"5sevb\">In footage Swart shared with the Tracker, she films alongside two other journalists — including Beckner-Carmitchel — as they cross the street approximately 50 feet in front of a crowd of protesters. After a sudden pop, the camera jolts and the trio turns back in the direction they had come.</p><p data-block-key=\"d91mg\">“That hurt,” Swart is heard saying moments later.</p><p data-block-key=\"3vco\">She told the Tracker that she was struck in the leg with what she believes was a tear gas canister.</p><p data-block-key=\"sup2\">“It’s hard to know what the fuck they’re shooting at us, because they’re just shooting so many different things. It felt heavy and hot, and it hit my thigh and it was stuck on my leg for a second because I had a battery pack in my pocket,” she said.</p><p data-block-key=\"ficmq\">“There were too many things going on, so I didn’t actually look at what it was and I didn’t want to touch it,” Swart added. “So I just remember using my shirt to kind of flip it off of me and it didn’t end up leaving a mark, but it was hot and it was heavier than the things that were being shot at me on the terrace.”<br/></p><p data-block-key=\"43mti\">In a statement emailed to the Tracker, the Sheriff’s Department said it prioritizes maintaining access for credentialed media, “especially during emergencies and critical incidents.”</p><p data-block-key=\"bhbet\">“The LASD does not condone any actions that intentionally target members of the press, and we continuously train our personnel to distinguish and respect the rights of clearly identified journalists in the field,” a public information officer wrote. “We remain open to working with all media organizations to improve communication, transparency, and safety for all parties during public safety operations.”</p><p data-block-key=\"7s327\">Reflecting on both of her experiences that day, Swart said, “It’s scary how many journalists have just been hurt these past few weeks.</p><p data-block-key=\"4fvp\">“So many of us already have PTSD: How much of this is going to sit with us for a while? But the work is important, so stopping isn’t an option,” she continued, adding of law enforcement, "They need to stop, that’s the option.”</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/20250614_USA-NO-KINGS-PROTEST-DOW.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880_iFgGDvN.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"hoi87\">Protesters stand off with police in downtown Los Angeles on June 14, 2025. Freelance photojournalist Madison Swart was struck with multiple crowd-control munitions while covering the protests against the Trump administration and its immigration policy.</p>",
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"name": "California",
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"shot / shot at"
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{
"title": "Independent journalist assaulted at Seattle protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/independent-journalist-assaulted-at-seattle-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2025-08-05T20:23:00.459900Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-08-05T20:23:00.459900Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-08-05T20:22:56.739496Z",
"date": "2025-06-14",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Seattle",
"longitude": -122.33207,
"latitude": 47.60621,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"7499n\">Reporter Cam Higby was attacked while documenting an anti-deportation protest in Seattle, Washington, on June 14, 2025.</p><p data-block-key=\"bhsja\">The protest was one of hundreds of “No Kings” demonstrations held nationwide to counter a military parade attended by President Donald Trump in Washington, D.C., marking the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Army.</p><p data-block-key=\"55svv\">Higby, a journalist and personality for the conservative digital news media and commentary site Today Is America, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he generally does not wear press identification or badges while covering protests to avoid becoming a target.</p><p data-block-key=\"3r7dd\">“It’s dangerous,” said Higby, who is an outspoken critic of the political group known as antifa. “I’ve been attacked a lot in the past, and I found that the best way to avoid violence against me is to blend in.”</p><p data-block-key=\"3nufe\">About 100 protesters had gathered that night outside Seattle’s Henry M. Jackson Federal Building, rallying against Trump’s immigration policies. Although Higby didn’t wear any press markings, he was live-posting from the scene, and he believes that his attackers recognized him from social media.</p><p data-block-key=\"atgtl\">At one point in the night, Higby was sitting on the ground, leaning against a wall, when he heard someone say, “Cameron, it’s time for you to leave,” according to a Seattle Police Department report.</p><p data-block-key=\"92tga\">Higby said he recognized the voice as someone he knew from a previous protest who had sent him a thinly veiled threat on Instagram about a week earlier. Before he could get to his feet, three men grabbed him by the neck, pinned him down and began punching him in the head. Higby, dazed, pepper-sprayed the man punching him. The incident was captured on video by a bystander and later posted to social media.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">🚨ANTIFA just JUMPED ME. <br><br>While SPD was refusing to intervene with the riot tonight, militant Tyler Hahn and his lackeys JUMPED ME. Dealing several blows to my head. <br><br>I was able to deploy pepper spray and repel them, regaining the belongings they knocked out of my pockets. <a href=\"https://t.co/gTsFtlIwDF\">pic.twitter.com/gTsFtlIwDF</a></p>— Cam Higby 🇺🇸 (@camhigby) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/camhigby/status/1934135321882664985?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 15, 2025</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"7499n\">One of the blows was strong enough to dent Higby’s helmet. Another dislodged a filter from his gas mask. Based on the sound of the attacker’s fist hitting the helmet and photos of his fists, police said they believe he was wearing sap gloves, weighted knuckle gloves usually filled with metal pieces.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Those are the imprints of my attackers knuckles. <br><br>I, a journalist doing my job was jumped tonight at Seattle’s federal building. I was sitting down. I was not filming. <br><br>3 men approached me, held me down and beat on my head. <a href=\"https://t.co/Re3ekGuMem\">pic.twitter.com/Re3ekGuMem</a></p>— Cam Higby 🇺🇸 (@camhigby) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/camhigby/status/1934146521907556611?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 15, 2025</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"7499n\">The next morning, Higby woke up with a severe bloody nose that had soaked through his sheets.</p><p data-block-key=\"2a4lb\">“My arms and my face were covered in blood,” he said.</p><p data-block-key=\"55s61\">The attack left him with debilitating headaches, flashing light visuals, dizziness, and nausea. Doctors diagnosed him with a mild to moderate concussion.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Woke up with a bloody nose. I never get bloody noses in the night. Unsure if it’s related. Sheets and body are covered in blood. <br><br>Hitting urgent care this morning. <a href=\"https://t.co/xyKFj82rGb\">pic.twitter.com/xyKFj82rGb</a></p>— Cam Higby 🇺🇸 (@camhigby) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/camhigby/status/1934310001570656258?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 15, 2025</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"7499n\">Jeremy Lawson, identified through videos posted on social media, has been charged with one count of third-degree assault in connection with the attack. According to the charging document, Lawson texted Higby after the assault, implying he knew where Higby lived. Soon after, Higby’s address and details about his family were posted online.</p><p data-block-key=\"703tr\">Higby obtained a temporary protection order on July 3. Lawson was arrested July 16 and remains in custody on $75,000 bond.</p><p data-block-key=\"1alh1\">Though the experience has shaken him and his sense of safety, Higby said he hasn’t stopped documenting protests. He now takes extra precautions: staying at the edge of crowds, concealing his identity more carefully, and avoiding live coverage or recording.</p><p data-block-key=\"3bvki\">“If I teach them that all you have to do is beat the journalist up and they won’t show their face again, that’s going to become learned behavior,” he said. “I’m not going to let them think that I’m intimidated by them.”</p><p data-block-key=\"7ivu0\">This isn’t the first time Higby has faced risks while reporting.</p><p data-block-key=\"6s0k6\"><a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/independent-journalist-detained-in-police-kettle-amid-la-protests/\">On June 9,</a> just days before the Seattle attack, Higby was detained in a police kettle while covering an anti-deportation protest in downtown Los Angeles, California. In 2024, he was <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporter-sprayed-with-chemical-irritant-while-covering-clashing-la-protests/\">pepper-sprayed</a> while documenting clashes between pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli demonstrators and <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-shoved-equipment-damaged-at-ucla-student-protest/\">shoved</a> at a UCLA student protest.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"7y1sw\">A police compilation of video screenshots captures reporter Cam Higby being assaulted during an anti-deportation protest in Seattle, Washington, on June 14, 2025.</p>",
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"categories": [
"Assault",
"Equipment Damage"
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"Cam Higby (Today Is America)"
],
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{
"title": "Videographer hit by pepper ball while covering Oregon ICE protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/videographer-hit-by-pepper-ball-while-covering-oregon-ice-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2025-07-02T20:55:49.683041Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-07-16T13:45:13.543495Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-07-16T13:45:13.471004Z",
"date": "2025-06-13",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Portland",
"longitude": -122.67621,
"latitude": 45.52345,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"fupbe\">Independent journalist Mason Lake said he was shot by federal agents with a projectile that struck his arm while he covered a protest outside an immigration detention center in Portland, Oregon, on June 13, 2025.</p><p data-block-key=\"7jq00\">Lake, a Portland-based videographer and founder of the independent outlet Channel Heed, was filming a protest over the arrest of Moisés Sotelo, a Newberg business owner detained by federal immigration agents the day before. His arrest followed the detainment of at least four asylum-seekers outside a Portland courthouse after immigration hearings, <a href=\"https://www.opb.org/article/2025/06/12/newberg-business-owner-arrested-ice/\">according to Oregon Public Broadcasting.</a></p><p data-block-key=\"6rkrk\">“Locals feel like someone in their community was kidnapped by the U.S. government,” Lake said. “We’re just trying to report it so that people can see what’s going on.”</p><p data-block-key=\"baft1\">At around 10 p.m., Lake was filming officers raining down crowd-control munitions on people when U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents shot at him multiple times — despite clear press markings on his coat, helmet and belt, he told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">June 13th 2025<br>At the "cube" facility in Portland footage show officers raining munitions of all sorts down onto protestors. The agents are from Texas "Houston Field Office" based on their badges<br>Camera: Vide Reporting<br>©Lake Vide Production, All Rights Reserved<a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/texas?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#texas</a> <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/oregon?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#oregon</a> <a href=\"https://t.co/btvy72X27d\">pic.twitter.com/btvy72X27d</a></p>— Mason Lake (@MasonLakePhoto) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/MasonLakePhoto/status/1934002353679761875?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 14, 2025</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"fupbe\">“They were aiming specifically down the barrel of my lens,” he said, adding that the round went underneath his monopod instead. “I’m fully there as press. They see me. They just want to get rid of me.”</p><p data-block-key=\"adqd8\">Lake said his right arm was struck by a pepper round and believes ICE’s Special Response Team was responsible, based on uniform patches in his footage. The Tracker has documented <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?targeted_journalists=Mason+Lake\">14 incidents since 2020</a> in which Lake has been assaulted while covering Portland protests.</p><p data-block-key=\"4e6rc\">“It’s disheartening, but I’m ready for it,” Lake said. “Don’t assume that the shield of ‘press’ will protect you right now.”</p><p data-block-key=\"3k31\">In a statement emailed to the Tracker, Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin urged journalists to be cautious while covering what she characterized as “violent riots,” and added that President Trump and Secretary Kristi Noem “are committed to restoring law and order.”</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"gq6lz\">A federal officer looks down at protesters as munitions and pepper ball rounds are fired into the crowd outside an immigration detention center in Portland, Oregon, on June 13, 2025. Videographer Mason Lake was struck while covering the protest that day.</p>",
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"shot / shot at"
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"categories": [
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{
"title": "Cyberattack hits journalists’ email accounts at Washington Post",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/cyberattack-hits-journalists-email-accounts-at-washington-post/",
"first_published_at": "2025-07-10T19:33:31.430921Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-07-10T19:33:31.430921Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-07-10T19:33:31.353708Z",
"date": "2025-06-12",
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"city": "Washington",
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"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"zk7th\">Journalists at The Washington Post were targeted in a cyberattack on June 12, 2025, which may have breached a small number of their email accounts, according to The Wall Street Journal.</p><p data-block-key=\"o006\">Staff at the Washington, D.C.-based newspaper were told their Microsoft email <a href=\"https://www.wsj.com/tech/cybersecurity/cyberattack-on-washington-post-compromises-email-accounts-of-journalists-70bf1300?mod=hp_lead_pos6\">accounts had been compromised</a>, possibly granting access to emails they had sent and received, according to an internal memo by Executive Editor Matt Murray.</p><p data-block-key=\"d49rn\">The memo said a small number of journalists’ email accounts were impacted and that a forensic team has been hired to investigate the breach, <a href=\"https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-06-16/washington-post-probes-hack-of-journalist-email-accounts\">reported Bloomberg News</a>. Reporters on the national security and economic policy teams, including some who write about China, were among those who were targeted, the Journal added.</p><p data-block-key=\"54o8a\">The night after the hacking, the Post required all staff to reset their login credentials. And while email is often the primary entry point for hackers, reporters at the Post are said to use encrypted messaging platforms like Signal to communicate with sources, according to the Journal.</p><p data-block-key=\"fc0ru\">Microsoft and the Washington Post did not reply to queries from the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. Staff affected by the hacking were instructed not to discuss the cyberattack, the Journal reported.</p><p data-block-key=\"6qagj\">“Although our investigation is ongoing, we believe the incident affected a limited number of Post journalists’ accounts, and we have contacted those whose accounts have been impacted,” Murray said in the memo, which was also <a href=\"https://edition.cnn.com/2025/06/15/media/washington-post-cyberback-emails\">obtained by CNN</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"97a7e\">The Bloomberg report on the breach cited a source who said Chinese state-backed hackers had repeatedly probed a part of the Post’s IT infrastructure in April and May, although it wasn’t clear if that was related to the latest attack.</p><p data-block-key=\"52p7c\">The Post had <a href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/technology/chinese-hackers-suspected-in-attack-on-the-posts-computers/2013/02/01/d5a44fde-6cb1-11e2-bd36-c0fe61a205f6_story.html\">previously reported</a> that it was targeted by hackers in multiple breaches that were discovered in 2011. At that time, hackers targeted its main IT server, compromising sensitive administrative passwords and potentially giving hackers broad access to the organization’s systems. Some of the attacks have been linked to groups based in China, the paper said.</p><p data-block-key=\"991qp\">Journalists are <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?tags=cyberattack\">frequently targets of cyberattacks</a>, as their emails often contain sensitive and confidential information — particularly related to their sources.</p><p data-block-key=\"deas1\">In 2022, for instance, the Journal was also reported to have been hit by a cyberattack where the intruders had access to its reporters’ emails and documents. The hackers <a href=\"https://www.wsj.com/politics/national-security/cyberattack-on-news-corp-believed-linked-to-china-targeted-emails-of-journalists-others-11643979328?gaa_at=eafs&gaa_n=ASWzDAhAbPmil3SG201BGktXW1y9aJfvRjzwDxoAF0NHHr8u6zFxyfyHvwpq9amjtb8%3D&gaa_ts=686d7944&gaa_sig=xqfwwfQC2Ye9HbjLpd_VVI0oUzFkxHBSL52Dc8JcopLFr4d2W-Y6iYjR1kmzaFPTHM4s0aTt9eZbwtv5Gf2qOQ%3D%3D\">appeared to be interested</a> in issues of importance to the Chinese government, the paper said.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"hvo60\">The Washington Post newspaper, whose headquarters are shown above, was hit with a cyberattack targeting journalists’ email accounts on June 12, 2025.</p>",
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{
"title": "Australian writer deported after interrogation over reporting, phone search",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/australian-writer-deported-after-interrogation-over-reporting-phone-search/",
"first_published_at": "2025-08-08T19:03:58.219538Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-08-08T19:03:58.219538Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-08-08T18:57:04.438541Z",
"date": "2025-06-12",
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"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
"latitude": 34.05223,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"p5ewa\">Moments after Australian writer and journalist Alistair Kitchen stepped off a plane in Los Angeles, California, on June 12, 2025, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers detained him, and later searched his phone and deported him.</p><p data-block-key=\"2dn9s\">After he was pulled from the customs line, one federal officer told him exactly why: “It’s because of what you wrote online about the protests at Columbia University.”</p><p data-block-key=\"3qbbs\">Columbia’s response to campus protests over the Israel-Gaza war has been under <a href=\"https://apnews.com/article/columbia-trump-deal-00eef5dca9f003e593d2cb151f5cce17\">increased federal scrutiny</a> since President Donald Trump’s inauguration. Kitchen, who attended Columbia on a student visa from 2022 to 2024 for a Master of Fine Arts program, had documented the April 2024 pro-Palestinian encampment at the university on his <a href=\"https://substack.com/@alistair?\">Substack</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"84evf\">While preparing for a two-week trip from Australia to the U.S. under the Visa Waiver Program — which allows people from certain countries to travel to the U.S. for less than 90 days — Kitchen told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker he deleted sensitive content from his phone, including the Signal app, pictures and various texts.</p><p data-block-key=\"392il\">He also removed the Columbia protest Substack posts at least three days before departure, but, he said, “It turns out they had already read them.”</p><p data-block-key=\"c76cc\">When he arrived in the U.S., he expected a brief secondary check, but instead faced a pre-planned, intensive search.</p><p data-block-key=\"ftpjm\">“I was not prepared for what actually happened,” Kitchen said. “Which was them having pre-prepared for my arrival in the country and for my denial of entry.”</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-video\">\n\n<figure class=\"inline-media full-width\">\n <div style=\"padding-bottom: 56.49999999999999%;\" class=\"responsive-object\">\n <iframe width=\"200\" height=\"113\" src=\"https://www.youtube.com/embed/NFeNaz2jDlU?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen title=\"Deported journalist says he was targeted at border for reporting on Columbia protest\"></iframe>\n</div>\n\n \n <figcaption class=\"inline-media__caption\">\n \n <p data-block-key=\"g9be7\">Australian writer and journalist Alistair Kitchen told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was deported after Customs and Border Protection officers targeted him for his reporting on the Columbia University student protests.</p>\n \n \n <p>USPFT</p>\n \n </figcaption>\n \n</figure>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"p5ewa\">Tired from a 15-hour flight, Kitchen was immediately placed in secondary processing. CBP officers seized his laptop and demanded the passcode for his cell phone under threat of deportation. He told the Tracker he reluctantly complied.</p><p data-block-key=\"9lddi\">“This targeted, deliberate and quite intimidating approach really threw me,” he said. “It’s a high stress situation, and I was fatigued and fearful.”</p><p data-block-key=\"30god\">Over several hours, officers pressed him for contacts in the student protest movement and began a detailed interrogation: Who had he spoken to at the protests? Where did he get his information? Which WhatsApp groups did he belong to? What was his take on the Israel-Palestine conflict, and how would he fix it?</p><p data-block-key=\"6424t\">“I was certainly present at many protests, but I saw myself there, first and foremost, as a journalist and as a writer,” Kitchen said. “I did not see myself as an activist. That distinction was not of interest to Customs and Border Protection.”</p><p data-block-key=\"1cl24\">The lack of divisiveness in Kitchen’s responses did not seem to placate the officers, Kitchen recalled. He told the Tracker that they continued to dig for evidence that he was unfit to enter the country. Officers ran a forensic search of his phone.</p><p data-block-key=\"c80vd\">After some time, a guard claimed they had found evidence of drug use on his phone but never showed it. Under pressure, Kitchen admitted to having used marijuana in New York, legal at the state level but illegal federally, which he had not declared on his visa application.</p><p data-block-key=\"dcc1i\">After 12 hours of detention — eight of which were spent in a basement holding cell at the airport — he was placed on a plane back to Australia without explanation or paperwork. The airline withheld his cell phone and passport from him until he landed in Melbourne.</p><p data-block-key=\"cct9t\">“The drug use was used as a pretext to deny me entry for having views and having expressed views that the U.S. government does not want to hear,” said Kitchen, who asserts that his deportation has had the opposite effect. He added that he now feels emboldened to write “ferociously” about the protest movement and what is happening in Gaza.</p><p data-block-key=\"f7rel\">“It’s pretty clear to me that the First Amendment protections of journalists and non-citizens are not nearly as firm as we’d like to believe,” Kitchen said. “It is only through a vibrant and loud public space in which journalists and non-journalists are able to express their views freely without the threat of intimidation that a democracy can survive.”</p><p data-block-key=\"3g6m\">In a <a href=\"https://www.dhs.gov/news/2025/06/30/dhs-debunks-fake-news-media-narratives-june\">statement</a> posted to its website, DHS said Kitchen was denied entry to the U.S. because he gave false information on his Electronic System for Travel Authorization application regarding drug use.</p><p data-block-key=\"aok9o\">“Using the ESTA is a privilege, not a right, and only those who respect our laws and follow the proper procedures will be welcomed,” the statement said.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"ccm69\">Australian writer and journalist Alistair Kitchen told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that Customs and Border Protection officers detained, searched and deported him on June 12, 2025, in Los Angeles.</p>",
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{
"title": "Journalist nearly trampled, shot with munition at LA immigration protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-nearly-trampled-shot-with-munition-at-la-immigration-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2025-07-29T16:33:33.538802Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-07-29T16:33:33.538802Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-07-29T16:33:29.933234Z",
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"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"xdr49\">Status Coup journalist Tina-Desiree Berg was shot with a crowd-control munition by law enforcement and nearly trampled by a mounted officer while reporting on anti-deportation protests in Los Angeles, California, on June 11, 2025.</p><p data-block-key=\"d45a7\">The protests <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/08/us/la-protests-national-guard-trump.html\">began</a> June 6 in response to federal raids in and around Los Angeles of workplaces and areas where immigrant day laborers gathered, amid the Trump administration’s larger immigration crackdown. After demonstrators clashed with LA law enforcement officers and federal agents, President Donald Trump called in the California National Guard and then the U.S. Marines over the objections of California Gov. Gavin Newsom and LA Mayor Karen Bass.</p><p data-block-key=\"f8fe6\">Berg told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that she and a photojournalist were covering the demonstrations together, livestreaming their reporting to YouTube starting at approximately 5:30 p.m. She said that she was wearing her LA Press Club credential and was clearly identifiable as a journalist.</p><p data-block-key=\"3fpmg\">A little over an hour into the livestream, Los Angeles Police Department officers are seen allowing horse-mounted officers to pass through and toward the crowd. “All right, they’ve now brought out the cavalry again, which is never a good sign,” Berg says. “These horses get very spooked when they start hearing munitions.”</p><p data-block-key=\"e5p14\">As the mounted officers advance, Berg tells her cameraman to step back further from the street. A minute later, she is <a href=\"https://youtu.be/WYRTqhAzZyg?t=4387\">describing</a> how officers have begun firing crowd-control munitions when an officer walking nearby spots her and starts yelling at her that police had told her to leave the area.</p><p data-block-key=\"3dn8l\">Berg can be heard shouting, “Hey, no! Stop!” before the audio suddenly cuts out and she is seen running down the sidewalk, closely pursued by a mounted officer. A few minutes later, she <a href=\"https://youtu.be/WYRTqhAzZyg?t=4649\">tells</a> the photojournalist with her, “I almost got trampled by horses.”</p><p data-block-key=\"6c1df\">Around half an hour later, at approximately 7:30 p.m. — shortly before a <a href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2025-06-11/downtown-los-angeles-curfew-explainer\">curfew</a> was to go into effect — Berg told the Tracker she observed an individual shouting at a line of Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies.</p><p data-block-key=\"f3u8m\">Moments later, an officer fired a pepper ball at the man at point-blank range. The individual then throws a can at the deputy who shot him and is in turn fired upon multiple additional times. Moments later, deputies turned their attention toward a gaggle of journalists nearby.</p><p data-block-key=\"1tqf3\">“They just started shooting less-lethals and I got hit,” Berg told the Tracker. In the <a href=\"https://youtu.be/WYRTqhAzZyg?t=6715\">livestream</a> of that moment, Berg can be heard saying, “Whoa, stop! Jesus, you just hit me!”</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">🚨"Jesus you just hit me!" our reporter <a href=\"https://twitter.com/TinaDesireeBerg?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@TinaDesireeBerg</a> shouts as LA County Sheriff officers hit her with "less lethal" ammunition. "I got hit by a less lethal, I'm OK, that's what the Kevlar's for...it didn't penetrate anything." <br><br>LIVESTREAM link below <a href=\"https://t.co/HHaoInpK20\">pic.twitter.com/HHaoInpK20</a></p>— Status Coup News (@StatusCoup) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/StatusCoup/status/1932988098041860161?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 12, 2025</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"xdr49\">She told the Tracker, “I don’t think they were aiming at me. I think they just shoot these things without care. I mean, they just really never stop firing this shit, it’s awful.”</p><p data-block-key=\"cm1ud\">Berg added that she was wearing Kevlar leggings under her pants, so she was only bruised when the munition struck her leg. “These Kevlar leggings are a godsend. If I did not have those on, I would have had a pretty severe injury, probably,” she said.</p><p data-block-key=\"6tsab\">When reached for comment, the LAPD directed the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker to the department’s social media accounts. In a June 12 <a href=\"https://x.com/LAPDPIO/status/1934663901607809139\">statement posted to X,</a> the department acknowledged that LAPD officers used numerous “less-lethal rounds” when responding to the protests, but did not address the use of munitions against identifiable press or the impact of mounted officers.</p><p data-block-key=\"27bt8\">In a statement emailed to the Tracker on June 10, the Sheriff’s Department said it prioritizes maintaining access for credentialed media, “especially during emergencies and critical incidents.”</p><p data-block-key=\"94n98\">“The LASD does not condone any actions that intentionally target members of the press, and we continuously train our personnel to distinguish and respect the rights of clearly identified journalists in the field,” a public information officer wrote. “We remain open to working with all media organizations to improve communication, transparency, and safety for all parties during public safety operations.”</p><p data-block-key=\"4m8en\">The Los Angeles Press Club, Status Coup and news cooperative The Southlander <a href=\"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cacd.974976/gov.uscourts.cacd.974976.1.0_1.pdf\">filed a lawsuit</a> June 18 seeking an injunction to prevent law enforcement from using excessive force against journalists or otherwise hampering their ability to cover protests. Berg’s injury was cited in the complaint, which names Los Angeles County and Sheriff Robert Luna as defendants.</p><p data-block-key=\"c6ada\">The suit alleges that deputies’ actions violated the First and Fourteenth amendments, the state constitution and a <a href=\"https://california.public.law/codes/penal_code_section_409.7\">2021 addition to the state penal code</a> that established protections for press at protests — revealing “a brazen refusal to abide by the Constitution and state law” and “the need for judicial intervention to prevent future abuses.”</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
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"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"n6zko\">Status Coup reporter Tina-Desiree Berg, center, reports amid anti-deportation protests in downtown LA on June 11, 2025, after she was shot with a crowd-control munition and nearly trampled by a mounted police officer.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
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"shot / shot at"
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"categories": [
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},
{
"title": "Photojournalist shot with pepper balls at LA immigration protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-shot-with-pepper-balls-at-la-immigration-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2025-08-08T17:43:27.034065Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-08-08T17:43:27.034065Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-08-08T17:40:34.455328Z",
"date": "2025-06-11",
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"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
"latitude": 34.05223,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"5hndh\">Freelance photojournalist Jen Golbeck was shot with multiple crowd-control munitions by sheriff’s deputies while reporting on anti-deportation protests in downtown Los Angeles, California, on June 11, 2025.</p><p data-block-key=\"3uuu3\">The protests <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/08/us/la-protests-national-guard-trump.html\">began</a> June 6 in response to federal raids in and around Los Angeles of workplaces and areas where immigrant day laborers gathered, amid the Trump administration’s larger immigration crackdown. After demonstrators clashed with LA law enforcement officers and federal agents, President Donald Trump called in the California National Guard and then the U.S. Marines over the objections of California Gov. Gavin Newsom and LA Mayor Karen Bass.</p><p data-block-key=\"75heu\">Golbeck told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that the June 11 protest was “pretty typical.”</p><p data-block-key=\"2rhcq\">“Flags and signs, people marching entirely peacefully,” she said. “They had marched to the front of City Hall and there were a million police and sheriff’s officers.”</p><p data-block-key=\"2rrsc\">At approximately 7:30 p.m. — shortly before a <a href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2025-06-11/downtown-los-angeles-curfew-explainer\">curfew</a> was to go into effect — Golbeck told the Tracker she observed an individual shouting at a line of Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department deputies.</p><p data-block-key=\"2v1s2\">Moments later, an officer fired a pepper ball at the man at point-blank range. The individual then threw a can at the deputy who shot him, and was in turn fired upon several more times. Deputies then turned their attention toward a gaggle of journalists nearby.</p><p data-block-key=\"3379e\">“One of them had that gun with pepper balls in it, in a little hopper on the top, and he just started shooting at us,” Golbeck said. “Some of the balls were hitting the ground, some were hitting our feet and ankles, and it took a second to realize that he was shooting at us.</p><p data-block-key=\"119b3\">“They didn’t give us any orders. They didn’t tell us to move. There were no protesters around.”</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">They also shot me and a group of photographers with those pepper balls, which was weird because they had not given us orders and we weren't by any demonstrators🤷♀️ <a href=\"https://t.co/iH2dZ0aXB6\">pic.twitter.com/iH2dZ0aXB6</a></p>— Dr. Jen Golbeck (@jengolbeck) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/jengolbeck/status/1933052456222798003?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 12, 2025</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"5hndh\">She told the Tracker that the group of journalists quickly jogged about 10 feet away down the street, but the officer fired a second volley at them and they were forced to keep running.</p><p data-block-key=\"cb7st\">Golbeck recounted the incident in an <a href=\"https://www.huffpost.com/entry/journalists-los-angeles-ice-protests-police-attack_n_68529febe4b038d013e30fd2\">article for HuffPost</a>, writing, “Because we were part of the press, bearing witness to what was happening, we initially assumed that we couldn’t possibly be the intended targets. I looked at the photographer to my right, and we laughed at the absurdity when we realized what was happening.”</p><p data-block-key=\"cnese\">She added that she was wearing bright blue “Press” patches on her helmet and body armor, a National Press Photographers Association credential around her neck and held professional cameras in each hand.</p><p data-block-key=\"adf6k\">When asked how many pepper balls struck her, Golbeck estimated three or four and noted that the rounds didn’t injure her. “I definitely didn’t get it as bad as some of those photojournalists who got shot with rubber bullets,” she added.</p><p data-block-key=\"7qtii\">In an emailed statement to the Tracker, the Sheriff’s Department said it prioritizes maintaining access for credentialed media, “especially during emergencies and critical incidents.”</p><p data-block-key=\"6ue0o\">“The LASD does not condone any actions that intentionally target members of the press, and we continuously train our personnel to distinguish and respect the rights of clearly identified journalists in the field,” a public information officer wrote. “We remain open to working with all media organizations to improve communication, transparency, and safety for all parties during public safety operations.”</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Golbeck_CA_assault.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"au9z2\">Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputies form a line as they respond to protests in downtown LA on June 11, 2025. Moments after capturing this photo, photojournalist Jen Golbeck was shot with multiple pepper ball munitions.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
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"name": "California",
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"shot / shot at"
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"categories": [
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},
{
"title": "Photojournalist struck with baton by police while documenting LA protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-struck-with-baton-by-police-while-documenting-la-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2025-08-26T21:17:46.832430Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-08-26T21:17:46.832430Z",
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"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
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"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"68ork\">Spencer Platt, a photojournalist with Getty Images, was struck by a mounted officer wielding a baton while covering an anti-deportation protest in Los Angeles, California, on June 11, 2025.</p><p data-block-key=\"6gl2g\">It was one of many protests that <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/08/us/la-protests-national-guard-trump.html\">began</a> June 6 in response to federal raids in and around LA of workplaces and areas where immigrant day laborers gathered, amid the Trump administration’s larger immigration crackdown. After demonstrators clashed with LA law enforcement officers and federal agents, President Donald Trump called in the California National Guard and then the U.S. Marines over the objections of California Gov. Gavin Newsom and LA Mayor Karen Bass.</p><p data-block-key=\"5a0di\">On June 11, Platt, who was wearing a helmet and clearly identified as press, said mounted officers with the LA Police Department indiscriminately struck protesters and journalists with their police batons and were particularly forceful.</p><p data-block-key=\"95lpt\">“In general, I found the LAPD extremely aggressive and not very discriminating in how they come after people,” he told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. “They just came swinging.”</p><p data-block-key=\"49sjh\">Platt said while he was hit with the baton, he wasn’t sure if he was targeted by police or not, as he frequently gets close to his subjects when shooting events as they unfold.</p><p data-block-key=\"5ed3\">“It is completely possible that the protester was the intended target,” he told the Tracker. “I shoot with a wide lens, and I have to get really close. So sometimes, you get whacked. It’s just part of the job.”</p><p data-block-key=\"520hu\">When reached for comment, the LAPD directed the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker to the department’s social media accounts. In a June 12 <a href=\"https://x.com/LAPDPIO/status/1934663901607809139\">statement posted to X,</a> the department acknowledged that LAPD officers used numerous “less-lethal munitions” when responding to the protests, but did not address the use of force against identifiable press.</p></div>",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"l85qr\">Los Angeles Police Department officers on horseback during an immigration protest in downtown LA on June 11, 2025. Getty Images photographer Spencer Platt was struck with a police baton by a mounted officer while documenting the demonstration.</p>",
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{
"title": "Reporter shoved, notebook damaged at Washington state protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporter-shoved-notebook-damaged-at-washington-state-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2025-08-08T18:04:31.374543Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-08-08T18:04:31.374543Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-08-08T18:04:26.709218Z",
"date": "2025-06-11",
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"city": "Spokane",
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"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"hh3ah\">A reporter for a local news outlet was shoved multiple times by federal officers while reporting on an anti-deportation protest in Spokane, Washington, on June 11, 2025.</p><p data-block-key=\"e5oe5\">Former Spokane City Council President Ben Stuckart called for the community to gather in protest following the detention of two Venezuelan immigrants living in the city, local broadcast station KREM <a href=\"https://www.krem.com/article/news/local/protests/spokane-police-reports-reveal-new-details-from-june-ice-protest/293-c81a6728-e348-47dc-9239-9f72acbff8af\">reported</a>. Stuckart was considered the legal guardian of one of the individuals, a young man who had aged out of a program that allowed certain immigrant children to seek lawful permanent residency the day before he was detained, <a href=\"https://rangemedia.co/everything-we-know-about-the-spokane-ice-protests/\">according to Range Media</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"98i6o\">The local reporter, who asked to remain anonymous because they had not been authorized to speak about their experiences, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that they arrived to start covering the protests at approximately 1:45 p.m. The demonstration was centered around the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement office in downtown Spokane.</p><p data-block-key=\"2a2nn\">“For hours, protesters had blocked an ICE transport van with their bodies but things had been relatively calm,” the reporter said. “Then, a few hours in, I heard shouting from around the other side of the building and I sprinted around the corner where a gate had been opened and ICE were attempting to leave. Protesters were linking arms to try and stop the vehicle.”</p><p data-block-key=\"73bcn\">The reporter told the Tracker they had a bright yellow press credential clipped to their shirt and filmed using their cellphone, being careful to stand on public property to the side of the gate and separate from the gathering protesters.</p><p data-block-key=\"fuagr\">“Then, ICE agents also came around the back corner and started forcefully shoving protesters,” they said. “I declared verbally, ‘I’m press!’ multiple times. I had my notebook in one hand and my phone, recording, in the other.</p><p data-block-key=\"vmlb\">“An agent shoved me hard. I again declared I was press and got shoved again, and my notebook ripped out of my hand and tossed on the ground.”</p><p data-block-key=\"dr3dq\">They told the Tracker that a page containing reporting notes about the day’s events had been ripped out of the notebook and, by the time they found it later, it was too torn, dirty and trampled to read.</p><p data-block-key=\"egsqr\">The reporter said that their editor has spoken with the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press and is determining whether to file an official complaint or civil case against the federal agents.</p><p data-block-key=\"fdq2\">The ICE Office of Public Affairs did not respond to an emailed request for comment.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"ex6n4\">Protesters gather outside a federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement office in downtown Spokane, Washington, on June 11, 2025. A reporter for a local news outlet was shoved by ICE agents and their reporting notebook damaged while covering the protest.</p>",
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{
"title": "Journalist shoved to the ground by police at immigration protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-shoved-to-the-ground-by-police-at-immigration-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2025-07-11T17:36:05.321738Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-07-11T17:36:05.321738Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-07-11T17:17:11.325521Z",
"date": "2025-06-11",
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"city": "Whittier",
"longitude": -118.03284,
"latitude": 33.97918,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"28kcs\">Freelance journalist Sean Beckner-Carmitchel was knocked to the ground by police and then struck in the back with a baton in Whittier, California, while documenting immigration protests on June 11, 2025.</p><p data-block-key=\"597ep\">The protests <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/08/us/la-protests-national-guard-trump.html\">began</a> June 6 in response to federal raids in and around LA of workplaces and areas where immigrant day laborers gathered, amid the Trump administration’s larger immigration crackdown. After demonstrators clashed with local law enforcement officers and federal agents, President Donald Trump called in the California National Guard and then the U.S. Marines over the objections of California Gov. Gavin Newsom and LA Mayor Karen Bass.</p><p data-block-key=\"e1249\">Beckner-Carmitchel told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was freelancing for the Los Angeles Public Press, reporting on demonstrations at the DoubleTree Hotel in Whittier, where protesters believed federal immigration officials were staying as they carried out raids throughout Los Angeles County.</p><p data-block-key=\"49dq1\">In a post on the social platform Bluesky, Beckner-Carmitchel wrote that Whittier Police Department officers <a href=\"https://bsky.app/profile/acatwithnews.bsky.social/post/3lrf6vo54js22\">arrived</a> after a <a href=\"https://bsky.app/profile/acatwithnews.bsky.social/post/3lrf6hatw5222\">window was broken</a>. In photos and footage he posted, the officers appear to be positioned to prevent protesters from entering the hotel.</p><p data-block-key=\"783qf\">He told the Tracker that officers then came rushing out of the hotel to push back the crowd.</p><p data-block-key=\"ahqn3\">“When Whittier PD surged out of the hotel, an officer pushed me with his baton and I lost my balance and fell,” Beckner-Carmitchel said. “While I was on the ground, I also had an officer put his hand on me. I don’t necessarily want to call it a punch, but there was force.”</p><p data-block-key=\"ducul\">In <a href=\"https://bsky.app/profile/acatwithnews.bsky.social/post/3lrf7fsathk26\">footage</a> he posted to Bluesky, officers can be seen charging forward, pushing the crowd with their batons and shouting “Back! Get the fuck back!” It appears that two officers pushed Beckner-Carmitchel, knocking him to the ground. As he begins to get up, another officer seems to rush toward him, striking and pushing the journalist back down despite him shouting, “Press! Press! Press!”</p><p data-block-key=\"a4jfu\">Beckner-Carmitchel told the Tracker he was able to get up once the officers had moved past him, but he was left with bruises on his left arm and hip.</p><p data-block-key=\"61f0d\">In a <a href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DKz6vXoy1Un/?img_index=1\">statement</a> posted on Instagram, the city of Whittier and the Whittier Police Department said that the claims that federal agents were staying at the hotel were incorrect.</p><p data-block-key=\"477gg\">“In response to an urgent plea from hotel management, a regional law enforcement response, led by the Whittier Police Department, was activated to help restore safety,” the statement said. “The crowd was safely dispersed around 2:00 a.m., with no injuries reported and no arrests made.”</p><p data-block-key=\"a5fqe\">Whittier police did not respond to a request for further comment.</p></div>",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"o1b92\">Officers push back anti-deportation protesters from a hotel entrance in Whittier, California, on June 11, 2025. Police knocked journalist Sean Beckner-Carmitchel to the ground seconds later, and another officer struck him before he was able to get up.</p>",
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{
"title": "Photographer struck by police horse, crowd-control munition while covering LA protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photographer-struck-by-police-horse-crowd-control-munition-while-covering-la-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2025-07-10T19:17:39.822838Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-07-10T19:17:39.822838Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-07-10T19:17:39.743191Z",
"date": "2025-06-11",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
"latitude": 34.05223,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"o073f\">Freelance photographer Montez Harris was charged repeatedly by a police horse and shot with a crowd-control munition while reporting on anti-deportation protests in downtown Los Angeles, California, on June 11, 2025.</p><p data-block-key=\"f2bbp\">The protests <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/08/us/la-protests-national-guard-trump.html\">began</a> June 6 in response to federal raids in and around Los Angeles of workplaces and areas where immigrant day laborers gathered, amid the Trump administration’s larger immigration crackdown. After demonstrators clashed with LA law enforcement officers and federal agents, President Donald Trump called in the California National Guard and then the U.S. Marines over the objections of California Gov. Gavin Newsom and LA Mayor Karen Bass.</p><p data-block-key=\"101s0\">At the time of the incident, Harris was filming at Grand Park in front of Los Angeles City Hall with a large camera and long lens, and had a camera bag, according to a <a href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/documents/f80d5239-5017-4e63-bb95-ab1e84210301.pdf\">lawsuit</a> filed by the Los Angeles Press Club and others against the Los Angeles Police Department earlier this month over alleged attacks against journalists.</p><p data-block-key=\"296fd\">An LAPD officer on horseback then charged his horse into Harris at least two times, according to the lawsuit and a <a href=\"https://www.instagram.com/reel/DKyS2XzRXSo/\">video</a> of the incident. “Leave the area,” officers screamed at Harris, who was already walking away.</p><p data-block-key=\"desn1\">“Get out of here or you’re gonna get shot,” said another officer, who was on foot. Harris was later shot with a crowd-control munition, according to Adam Rose, chair of the L.A. Press Club’s press rights committee.</p><p data-block-key=\"9ul6f\">Soon after that, a third officer, also on foot, can be seen in the video shoving Harris.</p><p data-block-key=\"flffj\">Harris declined to comment when contacted by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"ael9b\">The LAPD, when reached for comment, directed the Tracker to the department’s social media accounts, where statements and comments would be posted. The account does not appear to have posted any comment concerning the incident involving Harris.</p><p data-block-key=\"bfj3e\">Two days before this incident, LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell <a href=\"https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/jun/10/albanese-says-footage-of-nine-journalist-lauren-tomasi-being-shot-by-police-with-rubber-bullet-is-horrific\">said</a> in a press conference that he was “very concerned” about reports that journalists were being hit by crowd-control munitions.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"xts4m\">Police outside Los Angeles City Hall during a protest over federal immigration raids on June 11, 2025. Photographer Montez Harris was charged by a police horse and shot with a crowd-control munition while documenting the demonstration.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
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"name": "California",
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"shot / shot at"
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"categories": [
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{
"title": "Korea Daily photojournalist shot with projectile while covering LA immigration protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/korea-daily-photojournalist-shot-with-projectile-while-covering-la-immigration-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2025-07-14T20:23:42.641294Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-07-14T20:23:42.641294Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-07-14T20:23:42.556412Z",
"date": "2025-06-11",
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"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
"latitude": 34.05223,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"lmewy\">Sangjin Kim, a photojournalist for The Korea Daily, was shot in the back with an impact projectile while covering an immigration protest in Los Angeles, California, on the night of June 11, 2025.</p><p data-block-key=\"84on0\">The protest was part of a wave of demonstrations that began <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/08/us/la-protests-national-guard-trump.html\">June 6</a> in response to federal immigration raids targeting day laborers across LA. As clashes escalated, President Donald Trump deployed the California National Guard and later the U.S. Marines, actions condemned by Gov. Gavin Newsom and LA Mayor Karen Bass.</p><p data-block-key=\"6s3c4\">Kim <a href=\"https://www.koreadailyus.com/koreatown-protest-police-response/\">documented</a> the June 11 protest as demonstrators marched through Koreatown. When tensions escalated into a standoff with police, around 10 p.m., officers with the Los Angeles Police Department opened fire with crowd-control munitions. As projectiles flew, Kim turned to run.</p><p data-block-key=\"5hl0q\">“As I attempted to move away for safety — turning my back and running — I was shot in the back,” Kim told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker via email. “Despite the injury, I remained at the scene and continued photographing.”</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-aligned_image\"><figure class=\"inline-media full-width\">\n \n\n\n<img src=\"https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/KakaoTalk_Photo_2025-06-19-08-53-30_004.width-828.jpg\" width=\"828\" height=\"621\" alt=\"The Korea Daily/Sangjin Kim\">\n\n \n <figcaption class=\"inline-media__caption\">\n\t\t\t<p data-block-key=\"zz9lz\">A bruise on the back of The Korea Daily photojournalist Sangjin Kim, who was struck by an impact projectile while covering a protest in Koreatown in Los Angeles, California, on June 11, 2025.</p>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<span\n\t\t\t\t\tclass=\"media-attribution\"\n\t\t\t\t> — The Korea Daily/Sangjin Kim\n\t\t\t\t</span>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t</figcaption>\n \n</figure>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"lmewy\">Although Kim carried his professional camera gear, he wasn’t wearing a press credential because his LAPD-issued badge had expired. He said he doubts officers recognized him as a journalist amid the turmoil and poor visibility that night. Still, he believes the shot was intentionally aimed at him.</p><p data-block-key=\"fjokg\">“I believe it was targeted. I was not standing between crowds — I was running away and still got hit. It felt deliberate,” Kim said.</p><p data-block-key=\"5dlm8\">The shot left a large bruise on his back that caused him pain for two weeks. “I was fortunate that the injury was not more serious,” Kim said. Undeterred, he returned to work the following day.</p><p data-block-key=\"65c85\">“I’ve long believed in the importance of a functioning public authority. Without it, even a country like the U.S. can fall into chaos,” Kim said. “But law enforcement must also operate within reasonable bounds. Recent actions — both by police and immigration officers — seem to exceed that boundary.”</p><p data-block-key=\"2r3u3\">When reached for comment, the LAPD directed the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker to the department’s social media accounts. In a statement posted to social platform <a href=\"https://x.com/LAPDPIO/status/1933200324829102494\">X,</a> the department said it and other law enforcement agencies responded to protests and criminal activity in the downtown area, using numerous crowd-control munitions.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"gujty\">A protester holds a U.S. flag during a protest in Koreatown in Los Angeles, California, on June 11, 2025. Sangjin Kim, a photojournalist with The Korea Daily, was shot in the back with a projectile while covering the protest.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
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"actor": null,
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"assailant": "law enforcement",
"was_journalist_targeted": "no",
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{
"title": "Reporter pushed by police horse while covering LA immigration protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporter-pushed-by-police-horse-while-covering-la-immigration-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2025-07-17T18:01:51.329653Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-07-17T18:01:51.329653Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-07-17T18:01:44.378189Z",
"date": "2025-06-11",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
"latitude": 34.05223,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"1imlm\">Romi De Frias, a national reporter for Univision, was thrust forward by a mounted police officer while covering a protest in downtown Los Angeles, California, on June 11, 2025.</p><p data-block-key=\"64dvr\">The protests <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/08/us/la-protests-national-guard-trump.html\">began</a> June 6 in response to federal raids in and around Los Angeles of workplaces and areas where immigrant day laborers gathered, amid the Trump administration’s larger immigration crackdown. After demonstrators clashed with LA law enforcement officers and federal agents, President Donald Trump called in the California National Guard over the objections of California Gov. Gavin Newsom and LA Mayor Karen Bass.</p><p data-block-key=\"al9m4\">In a video posted to <a href=\"https://www.instagram.com/reel/DKyYcgyAmrb/?igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==\">Instagram</a>, a mounted officer with the Los Angeles Police Department can be seen striking protesters with a baton and pushing De Frias and others as law enforcement on horseback moved in to disperse the crowd.</p><p data-block-key=\"ak86c\">In another video provided by the LA Press Club and reviewed by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, De Frias is seen navigating the protest and reporting as officers form a skirmish line to block demonstrators from advancing. Protesters chant “Peaceful protest!” as De Frias holds a Univision-branded microphone and speaks to the camera.</p><p data-block-key=\"1ehvg\">As mounted officers advance on horseback, the footage shows De Frias moving with the crowd. When one of the officers’ horses pushes her, she audibly gasps. “Let’s go,” officers can be heard urging the throng of people.</p><p data-block-key=\"e53h4\">“I’m OK! Oh, my god,” De Frias says, visibly startled as flash bangs go off nearby. The video shows her continuing to report while walking, trailed closely by the mounted officers. “Be careful, be careful, we’re OK, I’m OK,” she says to the camera.</p><p data-block-key=\"5htm7\">Neither Univision nor De Frias responded to requests for comment. In a statement to the Tracker regarding other employees assaulted while covering the protest, Univision News President Daniel Coronell said the team continued its reporting amid a tense environment and was doing well.</p><p data-block-key=\"amrfq\">“We condemn any type of aggression against those who fulfill their duty to inform citizens,” Coronell wrote. “The authorities must protect journalistic work and guarantee access and safety in places of newsworthy locations.”</p><p data-block-key=\"cndh\">When reached for comment, the LAPD directed the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker to the department’s social media accounts. In a statement posted to <a href=\"https://x.com/LAPDPIO/status/1932838116722982997/photo/1\">X,</a> the department said it and other law enforcement agencies responded to “protests and criminal activity” in the downtown area, using numerous crowd-control munitions. It did not address the use of force against identifiable press.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"2oitb\">Video screenshot shows the moment reporter Romi De Frias is pushed by a mounted police officer during an immigration protest in Los Angeles, California, on June 11, 2025.</p>",
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{
"title": "Cameraman hit with crowd-control munition while covering LA protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/cameraman-hit-with-crowd-control-munition-while-covering-la-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2025-06-18T16:18:26.805054Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-06-18T16:18:26.805054Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-06-18T16:18:19.366671Z",
"date": "2025-06-10",
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"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
"latitude": 34.05223,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"ecf2s\">A cameraman for ABC Australia was struck by a crowd-control munition fired by law enforcement and tear-gassed while covering an immigration protest in Los Angeles, California, on June 10, 2025, the <a href=\"https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-06-10/marines-set-to-arrive-in-la-as-abc-camera-operator-hit/105400924\">outlet</a> reported.</p><p data-block-key=\"anqeo\">The protests <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/08/us/la-protests-national-guard-trump.html\">began</a> June 6 in response to federal raids in and around Los Angeles of workplaces and areas where immigrant day laborers gathered, amid the Trump administration’s larger immigration crackdown. After demonstrators clashed with Los Angeles law enforcement officers and federal agents, President Donald Trump called in the California National Guard and then the U.S. Marines over the objections of California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass.</p><p data-block-key=\"3skuu\">In the early hours of June 10, the cameraman was <a href=\"https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-06-10/abc-camera-operator-hit-in-chest-by-less-lethal-round/105401032\">filming</a> protesters in the Little Tokyo district of downtown LA pushing garbage bins toward a line of police standing in a street when he was hit. On the video, a person can be heard saying “hit in the chest” as the camera falls sideways.</p><p data-block-key=\"85itq\">He was struck with what may have been a rubber or foam round, but was wearing a bulletproof Kevlar vest, the outlet said. It did not specify which branch of law enforcement fired the round.</p><p data-block-key=\"37ebl\">ABC said he described the pain as “like being punched in the chest.”</p><p data-block-key=\"1ibk1\">He was working with a crew that included correspondent Lauren Day, who <a href=\"https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jun/11/number-of-australian-journalists-hit-by-us-law-enforcement-during-la-protests-climbs-to-four\">told</a> The Guardian, “He was thankfully wearing a Kevlar vest at the time so was totally uninjured and didn’t even wake up with a bruise.</p><p data-block-key=\"fqgf\">“We didn’t see what he was hit by but I’m just grateful whatever it was didn’t strike his neck or face where it might have really done some damage,” she added.</p><p data-block-key=\"etd7s\">The Guardian <a href=\"https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jun/11/number-of-australian-journalists-hit-by-us-law-enforcement-during-la-protests-climbs-to-four\">reported</a> that the cameraman was a freelancer and was not Australian.</p><p data-block-key=\"5d7ih\">Day told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that earlier that night, she and her crew had been filming a peaceful standoff in Little Tokyo between protesters and officers she believed to be from the Los Angeles Police Department and the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department, when suddenly they heard bangs and “were overcome with the impacts of tear gas (burning eyes, nose, mouth and throat).”</p><p data-block-key=\"44snq\">She added that the incidents have “certainly made us much more vigilant about security and less trusting of law enforcement.”</p><p data-block-key=\"edso1\">“I have reported from the Middle East five times since October 7 and from Myanmar during the civil war there but I never expected to see scenes like this when I moved to the U.S. earlier this year.”</p><p data-block-key=\"bl3f0\">When reached for comment, the LAPD directed the Tracker to the department’s social media accounts, where statements and comments would be posted. The account does not appear to have posted any comment concerning the shooting of the ABC cameraman or the tear-gassing of the crew.</p><p data-block-key=\"6bnnl\">LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell <a href=\"https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/jun/10/albanese-says-footage-of-nine-journalist-lauren-tomasi-being-shot-by-police-with-rubber-bullet-is-horrific\">said</a> in a press conference June 9 that he was “very concerned” about reports that members of the press were being hit by crowd-control munitions.</p><p data-block-key=\"ba3tj\">In a statement emailed to the Tracker on June 10, the Sheriff’s Department said it prioritizes maintaining access for credentialed media, “especially during emergencies and critical incidents.”</p><p data-block-key=\"aq5nj\">“The LASD does not condone any actions that intentionally target members of the press, and we continuously train our personnel to distinguish and respect the rights of clearly identified journalists in the field,” a public information officer wrote. “We remain open to working with all media organizations to improve communication, transparency, and safety for all parties during public safety operations.”</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/ABC_photog.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"kn6yj\">Protesters in downtown Los Angeles push garbage bins toward law enforcement officers on June 10, 2025. Moments later, an ABC Australia cameraman who was filming the events was struck in the chest by a crowd-control munition.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
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"chemical irritant",
"immigration",
"protest",
"shot / shot at"
],
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"categories": [
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{
"title": "LA Times reporter shoved by officer while covering immigration protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/la-times-reporter-shoved-by-officer-while-covering-immigration-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2025-07-22T19:45:01.449176Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-07-22T19:45:28.606341Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-07-22T19:45:28.506925Z",
"date": "2025-06-10",
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"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
"latitude": 34.05223,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"fc415\">James Queally, a reporter for the Los Angeles Times, said he was shoved by a police officer while covering an anti-deportation protest in downtown Los Angeles, California, on June 10, 2025.</p><p data-block-key=\"dgqud\">A series of protests <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/08/us/la-protests-national-guard-trump.html\">began</a> June 6 in response to federal raids in and around LA of workplaces and areas where immigrant day laborers gathered, amid the Trump administration’s larger immigration crackdown. After demonstrators clashed with LA law enforcement officers and federal agents, President Donald Trump called in the California National Guard over the objections of California Gov. Gavin Newsom and LA Mayor Karen Bass.</p><p data-block-key=\"30ga8\">In an interview with the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, Queally said he was reporting on a protest led by interfaith clergy near the Edward R. Roybal Federal Building, a federal complex that includes an immigration detention center.</p><p data-block-key=\"8h71s\">As an 8 p.m. curfew approached, Queally said the scene grew chaotic. Multiple law enforcement agencies were present, and the LA Police Department was moving in to disperse crowds. Mounted police units added to the confusion.</p><p data-block-key=\"6jqvf\">Queally, clearly displaying press credentials, was filming the police skirmish line from at least 10 feet away when an officer accused him of impeding police work. The officer then yelled that Queally was violating curfew and ordered him to leave. Queally reminded him that the curfew did not apply to journalists. As he jogged to reposition, the officer ran up behind him and shoved him.</p><p data-block-key=\"f08p4\">“I didn’t even fall down. There was no injury, but it was just a completely unnecessary maneuver,” he said. Queally later posted on the social platform X: “Could’ve done without the officer shoving me in response to a reminder that media is exempt from the curfew. Oh well, they’re just laws I guess.”</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">.<a href=\"https://twitter.com/LAPDHQ?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@LAPDHQ</a> now chasing people up Temple. The crowd is dwindling and has largely dispersed. Could’ve done without the officer shoving me in response to a reminder that media is exempt from the curfew. Oh well, they’re just laws I guess.</p>— James Queally (@JamesQueallyLAT) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/JamesQueallyLAT/status/1932648765045027194?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 11, 2025</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"fc415\">Earlier, Queally <a href=\"https://x.com/JamesQueallyLAT/status/1931809345429540889\">posted on X</a> after a June 8 demonstration where the National Guard and Department of Homeland Security agents deployed chemical agents — including tear gas canisters and smoke grenades — along with impact projectiles that struck both protesters and the media. “I got hit but fine after an eye rinse,” he added of the exposure to the pepper ball irritant.</p><p data-block-key=\"4d1o5\">In a June 11 post, Queally reflected on the week’s confrontations with law enforcement, “Journalism is not a crime.”</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">I've been tear gassed, shot at with pepper balls and shoved by officers this week. And it's got nothing on some of the worst stuff that's gone down.<br><br>Journalism is not a crime. <a href=\"https://t.co/2JrRmDW66u\">https://t.co/2JrRmDW66u</a></p>— James Queally (@JamesQueallyLAT) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/JamesQueallyLAT/status/1932979065058890022?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 12, 2025</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"fc415\">Throughout the protests, police aimed crowd-control weapons above the chest at anyone, including press, and ignored clear media credentials, according to Queally.</p><p data-block-key=\"fnsrq\">“Their inability to delineate media and demonstrators, or their unwillingness to do so lately, definitely makes me a little bit more inclined to be off to the side,” he said.</p><p data-block-key=\"chqm2\">To mitigate the chances of being hit, Queally said he generally stands about 15 to 20 feet away from the action, enough distance to still observe and newsgather.</p><p data-block-key=\"eg16j\">“It’s the cost of doing business covering protests,” he said. “I’m not OK with getting hurt, but I’m at peace with the fact that it’s a risk.”</p><p data-block-key=\"4jb9t\">The LAPD directed the Tracker to the department’s social media accounts. In a June 10 <a href=\"https://x.com/LAPDPIO/status/1934663901607809139\">statement posted to X,</a> the department acknowledged that LAPD officers used numerous “less-lethal rounds” when responding to the protests, but did not address the use of munitions against identifiable press.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"es11p\">Law enforcement and protesters face off during an immigration protest in downtown Los Angeles, California, on June 10, 2025. LA Times reporter James Queally said he was shoved by police while covering the demonstration.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
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"name": "California",
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"tags": [
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"immigration",
"protest"
],
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"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
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{
"title": "Video journalist hit by crowd-control munition while covering LA protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/video-journalist-hit-by-crowd-control-munition-while-covering-la-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2025-07-03T15:50:03.757188Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-07-17T17:58:30.291609Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-07-17T17:58:30.203309Z",
"date": "2025-06-10",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
"latitude": 34.05223,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"pngeb\">Gabriel Ovalle, an editor and camera operator for digital media outlet Channel 5, was struck with a crowd-control munition fired by a Los Angeles Police Department officer while covering an immigration protest in Los Angeles, California, on June 10, 2025.</p><p data-block-key=\"aeq18\">The protests <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/08/us/la-protests-national-guard-trump.html\">began</a> June 6 in response to federal raids in and around LA of workplaces and areas where immigrant day laborers gathered, amid the Trump administration’s larger immigration crackdown. After demonstrators clashed with LA law enforcement officers and federal agents, President Donald Trump called in the California National Guard and then the U.S. Marines over the objections of California Gov. Gavin Newsom and LA Mayor Karen Bass.</p><p data-block-key=\"cglgf\">Ovalle told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was walking backward ahead of a group of peaceful protesters in downtown LA at around 9:45 p.m. when he was hit in the side with an impact projectile.</p><p data-block-key=\"blrn2\">“It was clear that I was filming them walking. There weren’t a lot of projectiles flying around yet and I was isolated, so I do believe I was targeted. It’s just unclear if they could tell I was covering the event or not.”</p><p data-block-key=\"af2ob\">Ovalle said he sustained a bruise that lasted a few weeks. He added that he had “temporary discomfort” from tear gas that was also fired.</p><p data-block-key=\"6tv51\">Channel 5 <a href=\"https://x.com/Channel5iveNews/status/1932497835288560088\">posted</a> on the social platform X on June 10 a photo of Ovalle’s injury and video of the moment he was hit.</p><p data-block-key=\"3p464\">It added, “Whether or not the LAPD is explicitly targeting the press, the press is getting caught in the crossfire.”</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">One of our editors & camera operators, Gabriel Ovalle, was shot with a rubber bullet while documenting night 2 of the LA protests. Whether or not the LAPD is explicitly targeting the press, the press is getting caught in the crossfire <a href=\"https://t.co/A1uIPlz9jb\">pic.twitter.com/A1uIPlz9jb</a></p>— Channel 5 (@Channel5iveNews) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/Channel5iveNews/status/1932497835288560088?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 10, 2025</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"pngeb\">A federal <a href=\"https://firstamendmentcoalition.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/LAPD-v-City-of-LA-Complaint-6-16-2025.pdf\">lawsuit</a> filed by the LA Press Club and outlet Status Coup against the city and the LAPD chief on June 16 alleged that the department was using excessive force against journalists covering the protests and violating their rights to document public events. The suit cited Ovalle as one example, stating that he had been struck by crowd-control munitions fired by LAPD officers on June 10.</p><p data-block-key=\"dskuk\">Ovalle said that he felt “there is a palpable hostility, and it’s clear they want to discourage full, free coverage.”</p><p data-block-key=\"fkijo\">“I hope this doesn’t discourage anyone from showing up and covering what is going on,” he added.</p><p data-block-key=\"f2844\">When reached for comment, the LAPD directed the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker to the department’s social media accounts. In a June 11 <a href=\"https://x.com/LAPDPIO/status/1934663901607809139\">statement posted to X,</a> the department acknowledged that LAPD officers used numerous “less-lethal rounds” when responding to the protests, but did not address the use of munitions against identifiable press.</p><p data-block-key=\"c28sb\"><i>Editor’s Note: This article has been updated to include comments and further details about the assault from Ovalle, and additional information from the Los Angeles Police Department.</i></p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"hr92i\">Police block a street during a protest on June 10, 2025, in Los Angeles, California. Gabriel Ovalle, an editor and camera operator for Channel 5, was struck with a crowd-control munition while covering a protest that day.</p>",
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"tags": [
"chemical irritant",
"immigration",
"protest",
"shot / shot at"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Gabriel Ovalle (Channel 5)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": null,
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},
{
"title": "Journalist struck by foam round while covering LA immigration protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-struck-by-foam-round-while-covering-la-immigration-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2025-07-16T19:34:51.880147Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-07-16T19:34:51.880147Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-07-16T19:25:32.876187Z",
"date": "2025-06-09",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
"latitude": 34.05223,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"ziylq\">Ford Fischer, editor-in-chief and co-founder of the independent media outlet News2Share, was struck by a foam projectile while filming a protest in Los Angeles, California, on June 9, 2025.</p><p data-block-key=\"8p383\">The protests <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/08/us/la-protests-national-guard-trump.html\">began</a> June 6 in response to federal raids in and around Los Angeles of workplaces and areas where immigrant day laborers gathered, amid the Trump administration’s larger immigration crackdown. After demonstrators clashed with LA law enforcement officers and federal agents, President Donald Trump called in the California National Guard over the objections of California Gov. Gavin Newsom and LA Mayor Karen Bass.</p><p data-block-key=\"bk0o1\">Fischer had traveled to LA to document the protests and spent four consecutive days on the ground. He told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was filming a tense but mostly stagnant standoff between protesters and the Los Angeles Police Department when some demonstrators began throwing objects. Officers responded with tear gas and impact rounds.</p><p data-block-key=\"3iqo4\">At the time, Fischer was positioned near a group of journalists and clearly identifiable as press. He wore a Capitol Hill press badge and carried a full-size studio camera rig with a mounted phone for livestreaming — gear he described as “unmistakable.”</p><p data-block-key=\"9oqau\">In a video Fischer posted to social platform X, a wide gap is visible between protesters and police officers, with some demonstrators throwing objects toward the police line. As officers returned fire with what Fischer identified as 40 mm foam rounds, one struck him about 30 seconds into the footage.</p><p data-block-key=\"5n4s5\"></p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Correction: Apparently this was likely a 40mm foam round rather than a rubber coated bullet.<br><br>Either way, video below:<a href=\"https://t.co/dBld6gba4e\">https://t.co/dBld6gba4e</a></p>— Ford Fischer (@FordFischer) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/FordFischer/status/1932339238869287034?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 10, 2025</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"ziylq\">“Got shot in the stomach,” he said with a groan, while continuing to document the scene as flash-bang grenades exploded nearby.</p><p data-block-key=\"4631m\">The strike left a painful welt and a ring of burst blood vessels. The bruise, Fischer said, remained visible for more than a month. Though a friend later confirmed the injury wasn’t serious, he described the pain as “very sharp.”</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">If LAPD could not shoot me in the stomach with rubber bullets while I film them, that would be great. <a href=\"https://t.co/Ks4QlcERz1\">pic.twitter.com/Ks4QlcERz1</a></p>— Ford Fischer (@FordFischer) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/FordFischer/status/1932305243657945404?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 10, 2025</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"ziylq\">“They knew, or should have known, that I was press,” he told the Tracker. “It’s either a negligent act to then hit me, an unacceptable mistake, or it was specifically targeted.”</p><p data-block-key=\"2e7tr\">He kept filming for another 20 to 30 minutes that night, then returned to cover the protests over the next three days. But the incident shifted his sense of safety.</p><p data-block-key=\"970u4\">“It creates a greater level of precaution,” Fischer said. “I might be more bold about my vicinity to the action if I wasn’t as scared of the possibility of being hit.”</p><p data-block-key=\"6pdo0\">When reached for comment, the LAPD directed the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker to the department’s social media accounts. In a June 10 <a href=\"https://x.com/LAPDPIO/status/1934663901607809139\">statement posted to X,</a> the department acknowledged that LAPD officers used numerous “less-lethal rounds” when responding to the protests, but did not address the use of munitions against identifiable press.</p><p data-block-key=\"a8o2r\">The Tracker has documented <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?targeted_journalists=Ford%20Fischer\">four other instances</a> in which Fischer was assaulted while covering protests, including two involving law enforcement.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/DSC01522.___USPFT_.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"494qi\">Law enforcement officers stand face-to-face with a protester during an anti-deportation demonstration in downtown Los Angeles, California, on June 9, 2025. Independent journalist Ford Fischer was struck by a projectile while filming the protest that day.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
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"assailant": "law enforcement",
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"state": {
"name": "California",
"abbreviation": "CA"
},
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"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"immigration",
"protest",
"shot / shot at"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Ford Fischer (News2Share)"
],
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},
{
"title": "Freelance photojournalist detained in police kettle in downtown LA",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/freelance-photojournalist-detained-in-police-kettle-in-downtown-la/",
"first_published_at": "2025-06-19T19:08:13.046166Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-06-19T19:08:13.046166Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-06-19T19:08:12.878664Z",
"date": "2025-06-09",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
"latitude": 34.05223,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"p45ji\">Freelance photojournalist Alex Brittenham was detained in a kettle by police while covering an anti-deportation protest in downtown Los Angeles, California, on June 9, 2025.</p><p data-block-key=\"ekrda\">The protests <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/08/us/la-protests-national-guard-trump.html\">began</a> June 6 in response to federal raids in and around LA of workplaces and areas where immigrant day laborers gathered, amid the Trump administration’s larger immigration crackdown. After demonstrators clashed with local law enforcement officers and federal agents, President Donald Trump called in the California National Guard and then the U.S. Marines over the objections of California Gov. Gavin Newsom and LA Mayor Karen Bass.</p><p data-block-key=\"e30f5\">Brittenham told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that she had been documenting the protests since June 8, noting that the protests the following day centered around the Metropolitan Detention Center were in her observation nonviolent.</p><p data-block-key=\"ctn71\">“There was singing and dancing in the street,” she said. “I personally was unaware that an unlawful assembly was declared or that dispersal orders were given.”</p><p data-block-key=\"94i1g\">Officers began herding the crowd, Brittenham said, and by approximately 8:30 p.m. had surrounded them using a technique called kettling, which she had never experienced before.</p><p data-block-key=\"21b1a\">“I had asked, ‘I am media, I blatantly have my camera in my hand and all my gear on my back. Can I please leave? I’m just here to capture images, I’m not here to do any harm. I just want to leave,’” she told the Tracker. “I was told ‘no’ by multiple officers and that everyone in the area was under arrest.”</p><p data-block-key=\"10h4q\">Brittenham and <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?date_lower=2025-06-09&date_upper=2025-06-09&city=Los+Angeles&tags=kettle&categories=Arrest%2FCriminal+Charge\">other journalists</a> caught in the kettle told the Tracker that police were removing journalists and demonstrators one by one, and did not make it clear whether members of the press would be charged. So, Brittenham said, she voluntarily approached the officers and identified herself as a member of the press.</p><p data-block-key=\"1dkri\">“I just wanted to state my case and get out,” she said.</p><p data-block-key=\"8ctr7\">When each of the journalists was removed from the kettle, officers directed them to place their hands behind their back and then held their arms in place while walking them out of the area. Once members of the press provided their names and basic information, officers allowed them to leave with a warning that, if they returned, they would be subject to arrest.</p><p data-block-key=\"48oqu\">Brittenham told the Tracker that she was particularly nervous as a freelancer without media credentials to present.</p><p data-block-key=\"7uaug\">“It’s kind of scary because you don’t have a badge to protect you,” she said. “I worried: If I don’t have those credentials, does it mean I’m under arrest even though I am covering this for freelance purposes?”</p><p data-block-key=\"eu13o\">When reached for comment, the Los Angeles Police Department directed the Tracker to the department’s social media accounts. But in a June 10 <a href=\"https://x.com/LAPDPIO/status/1932503206875312200\">news release</a> posted on social platform X about the previous evening’s arrests, the LAPD did not address the detainments and removal of journalists caught in the kettle.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/DSC01691.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"51kq5\">Police officers surround a crowd of demonstrators and press in downtown Los Angeles, California, on June 9, 2025. Freelance photojournalist Alex Brittenham was among those detained and later released without charges.</p>",
"arresting_authority": "Los Angeles Police Department",
"arrest_status": "detained and released without being processed",
"release_date": null,
"detention_date": "2025-06-09",
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": null,
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"is_search_warrant_obtained": false,
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"state": {
"name": "California",
"abbreviation": "CA"
},
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"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"immigration",
"kettle",
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Arrest/Criminal Charge"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Alex Brittenham (Freelance)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": null,
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "CNN correspondent detained, removed from protest zone in LA",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/cnn-correspondent-detained-removed-from-protest-zone-in-la/",
"first_published_at": "2025-06-10T20:36:49.085054Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-06-23T20:57:18.826347Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-06-23T20:57:18.722161Z",
"date": "2025-06-09",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
"latitude": 34.05223,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"d5f6l\">Jason Carroll, a national correspondent for CNN, was pushed by police and later detained live on air while documenting anti-deportation demonstrations in Los Angeles, California, on June 9, 2025.</p><p data-block-key=\"b37c9\">The protests <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/08/us/la-protests-national-guard-trump.html\">began</a> June 6 in response to federal raids in and around LA of workplaces and areas where immigrant day laborers gathered, amid the Trump administration’s larger immigration crackdown. After demonstrators clashed with LA law enforcement officers and federal agents, President Donald Trump called in the California National Guard and then the U.S. Marines over the objections of California Gov. Gavin Newsom and LA Mayor Karen Bass.</p><p data-block-key=\"ce7dk\">Carroll and his reporting team were covering demonstrations in downtown LA on June 9, and were caught in a rush by police at approximately 6:30 p.m. </p><p data-block-key=\"8ihur\">In <a href=\"https://x.com/MrOlmos/status/1932250194344845537\">footage</a> captured by CalMatters reporter Sergio Olmos, Los Angeles Police Department officers can be seen running directly into Carroll and members of his news crew, shoving them while shouting, “Move! Get out of the way!”</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">LAPD officers bull rush protesters and press, hitting them along the way indiscriminately <a href=\"https://t.co/hQdA3Wdjze\">pic.twitter.com/hQdA3Wdjze</a></p>— Sergio Olmos (@MrOlmos) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/MrOlmos/status/1932250194344845537?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 10, 2025</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"thw62\">Approximately two hours later, Carroll and his reporting team had just concluded a live report for the news program “Laura Coates Live” when they were approached by police.</p><p data-block-key=\"s4ft\">CNN cameras recorded as officers told Carroll that he needed to leave the area, directing him to place his arms behind his back and having two officers escort him outside the perimeter by the elbow.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">CNN’s reporter on scene in Los Angeles: I’m being detained.. <a href=\"https://t.co/DANNms8ZZj\">pic.twitter.com/DANNms8ZZj</a></p>— Acyn (@Acyn) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/Acyn/status/1932290084164051406?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 10, 2025</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"d5f6l\">“I said, ‘Am I being arrested?’ He said, ‘No, you’re not being arrested, you’re being detained,’” Carroll <a href=\"https://www.cnn.com/2025/06/10/us/video/jason-carroll-escorted-la-protest-digvid\">recounted</a>. “You take a lot of risks as press. This is low on that sort of scale of risks, but it is something that I wasn’t expecting, simply because we’ve been out here all day.”</p><p data-block-key=\"7cphb\">Carroll reported that officers took down his name and other basic information before releasing him. He did not respond to a request for comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"c3vdj\">In an emailed statement to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, CNN said it was “pleased the situation resolved quickly once the reporting team presented law enforcement with their CNN credentials.”</p><p data-block-key=\"5tjm7\">When reached for comment, the LAPD directed the Tracker to the department’s social media accounts. But in a June 10 <a href=\"https://x.com/LAPDPIO/status/1932503206875312200\">news release</a> posted on social platform X about the previous evening’s arrests, the LAPD did not address the detainments and removal of journalists caught in the kettle.</p><p data-block-key=\"o091\"><i>Editor’s Note: This article was updated to include details about assaults suffered by the news crew earlier on June 9.</i></p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Carroll_CA_arrest.c9580858.fill-1330x880.png",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"djg8w\">CNN correspondent Jason Carroll, far left, was detained and escorted out of a protest zone by police officers while documenting anti-deportation demonstrations in Los Angeles, California, on June 9, 2025.</p>",
"arresting_authority": "Los Angeles Police Department",
"arrest_status": "detained and released without being processed",
"release_date": null,
"detention_date": "2025-06-09",
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"assailant": "law enforcement",
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"state": {
"name": "California",
"abbreviation": "CA"
},
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"tags": [
"immigration",
"kettle",
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Arrest/Criminal Charge",
"Assault"
],
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"Jason Carroll (CNN)"
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},
{
"title": "Photojournalist struck in helmet by crowd-control munition at LA protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-struck-in-helmet-by-crowd-control-munition-at-la-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2025-06-26T19:36:07.898310Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-06-27T01:38:55.081580Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-06-27T01:38:54.963543Z",
"date": "2025-06-09",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
"latitude": 34.05223,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"k3gpu\">Freelance photojournalist Michael Nigro was shot by police with a crowd-control munition, which ricocheted off his helmet, while documenting anti-deportation protests in Los Angeles, California, on June 9, 2025.</p><p data-block-key=\"7shnu\">The protests <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/08/us/la-protests-national-guard-trump.html\">began</a> June 6 in response to federal raids in and around LA of workplaces and areas where immigrant day laborers gathered, amid the Trump administration’s larger immigration crackdown. After demonstrators clashed with local law enforcement officers and federal agents, President Donald Trump called in the California National Guard and then the U.S. Marines over the objections of California Gov. Gavin Newsom and LA Mayor Karen Bass.</p><p data-block-key=\"9rro3\">Nigro told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker he was filing photos for the agency Sipa USA when documenting the June 9 protests, which centered around the Metropolitan Detention Center in downtown LA’s Little Tokyo neighborhood.</p><p data-block-key=\"657gc\">He said he was standing alone photographing from a pedestrian walkway near the Los Angeles Mall when he was suddenly shot at by law enforcement.</p><p data-block-key=\"af5mf\">“I was just taking a wide-angle shot and there were already flash bangs going off, and all of a sudden, by my head, three hits happened and I fled that scene,” Nigro said. “But I’m just thinking, ‘Wow, somebody’s either a really bad shot or a very good shot,’ because it was so close. I just felt, ‘Man, they’re targeting journalists.’”</p><p data-block-key=\"7tsa3\">Approximately 1 ½ hours later, after the demonstration had been pushed down South Alameda Street and deeper into Little Tokyo, Nigro said he was photographing the line of Los Angeles Police Department officers advancing on the crowd when he felt something strike his helmet.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-aligned_image\"><figure class=\"inline-media right\">\n \n\n\n<img src=\"https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Nigro_CA_assault_69.width-828.jpg\" width=\"828\" height=\"1240\" alt=\"COURTESY JOHN RUDOFF\">\n\n \n <figcaption class=\"inline-media__caption\">\n\t\t\t<p data-block-key=\"b4rd6\">Freelance photojournalist Michael Nigro was photographed moments after he was shot with a crowd-control munition, which left a visible mark on his helmet, while covering anti-deportation protests in Los Angeles, California, on June 9, 2025.</p>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<span\n\t\t\t\t\tclass=\"media-attribution\"\n\t\t\t\t> — COURTESY JOHN RUDOFF\n\t\t\t\t</span>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t</figcaption>\n \n</figure>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"scdgz\">“I don’t know which officer it was, but it just hit me in the head and I just turned away and kind of moved out of the scrum,” Nigro said, noting that he wasn’t sure what kind of crowd-control munition had struck him. “After that, I went to my one colleague and I said, ‘I just got stung.’ And he just said, ‘Oh yeah, you did. There’s the mark.’ So we took a photo of it right away.”</p><p data-block-key=\"9it2d\">Nigro told the Tracker that the helmet he was wearing — which had “PRESS” in all caps on both sides — “did its job” and the munition ricocheted without injuring him. He was also wearing a protective vest that was similarly marked.</p><p data-block-key=\"d2uut\">“These moments are when I feel that chilling effect that they want to put on journalists,” he added. “It felt intentional, simply because at that close range and with the sights that they have. One inch down and it would have gotten me right in the forehead.”</p><p data-block-key=\"6v0iu\">When reached for comment, the LAPD directed the Tracker to its social media accounts. But in a June 10 <a href=\"https://x.com/LAPDPIO/status/1932503206875312200\">news release</a> posted on social platform X about the previous evening’s protest response, the department did not address the use of munitions against identifiable press.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
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"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"ieekb\">Los Angeles Police Department officers push protesters towards Little Tokyo in downtown LA on June 9, 2025. Freelance photojournalist Michael Nigro was struck in the helmet with a crowd-control munition fired during the anti-deportation demonstrations.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
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"assailant": "law enforcement",
"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
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{
"title": "British television reporter shot with crowd-control munition at LA protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/british-television-reporter-shot-with-crowd-control-munition-at-la-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2025-08-28T14:41:52.367348Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-09-02T20:56:35.261970Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-09-02T20:56:35.170796Z",
"date": "2025-06-09",
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"city": "Los Angeles",
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"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"1e55a\">Noel Phillips, a North America correspondent for British broadcaster ITV, was shot with a crowd-control munition live on air, while covering an immigration protest in Los Angeles, California, on June 9, 2025.</p><p data-block-key=\"d7et2\">The protests <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/08/us/la-protests-national-guard-trump.html\">began</a> June 6 in response to federal raids in and around LA of workplaces and areas where immigrant day laborers gathered, amid the Trump administration’s larger immigration crackdown. After demonstrators clashed with local law enforcement officers and federal agents, President Donald Trump called in the California National Guard and then the U.S. Marines over the objections of California Gov. Gavin Newsom and LA Mayor Karen Bass.</p><p data-block-key=\"4u5i\">Phillips told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he arrived on the ground with a crew member at around 9 p.m., getting a feel for what was happening before his first live report about an hour later. He said that shortly before going on air, Los Angeles Police Department officers began firing crowd-control munitions.</p><p data-block-key=\"37h9f\">“We just remember there being rubber bullets flying everywhere and, at that point, we then took cover behind a car, a vehicle that was parked on the side of the street,” Phillips said.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-video\">\n\n<figure class=\"inline-media right\">\n <div style=\"padding-bottom: 176.99115044247787%;\" class=\"responsive-object\">\n <iframe width=\"113\" height=\"200\" src=\"https://www.youtube.com/embed/ZnlGbvniRMM?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen title=\"Our Correspondent Noel Phillips Was Hit by a Rubber Bullet Whilst Reporting on the LA Riots\"></iframe>\n</div>\n\n \n</figure>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"1e55a\">In a report for Good Morning Britain the morning after, Phillips <a href=\"https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/tv/gmb-reporter-la-riots-injury-31822673\">said</a> that lying on the ground was the safest option, “given the fact that the situation around us was so volatile.”</p><p data-block-key=\"943ae\">“As I was laying on the floor, I felt as though an enormous ton of bricks had fallen on my arm,” Phillips <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/shorts/ZnlGbvniRMM?feature=share\">said</a>. “I realized, I think, within 20 to 30 seconds that a rubber bullet had grazed the top layer of my skin and had caused a bit of injury.</p><p data-block-key=\"ac4k9\">“It gives you a sense of just how unpredictable things are here. There has been a constant flow of fireworks and rubber bullets."</p><p data-block-key=\"3hr2l\">The Los Angeles Police Department <a href=\"https://www.reuters.com/graphics/USA-MIGRATION/PROTEST-LOSANGELES-WEAPONS/zdpxalxkyvx/\">has said</a> that it no longer uses rubber bullets, instead relying on other forms of “less-lethal” munitions, including foam rounds.</p><p data-block-key=\"1hvtp\">In <a href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DKtrtWLO0gz/?hl=en\">footage posted to Instagram</a>, Phillips can be heard shouting in pain seconds after he was struck by a crowd-control munition, and a semicircular abrasion is later seen on his forearm.</p><p data-block-key=\"o04v\">“We quickly got up from the ground and then ran into the street with our hands in the air, shouting, ‘Press! Press! Press!’ Obviously, I was injured at the time, and they allowed us to cross the street,” Phillips told the Tracker. “We continued our reporting on the ground despite being injured, but it was very hostile and it was very unprovoked.</p><p data-block-key=\"3gt67\">“It didn’t make any sense at all why they would target us. I mean, I had my press credentials and protective clothing on, which clearly — unless their vision was impaired — they could see that we were reporting.”</p><p data-block-key=\"5uj8s\">Phillips added that he and the photographer with him were wearing press credentials, protective vests and helmets marked with “Press,” and had a large camera with lights on it.</p><p data-block-key=\"2qo1k\">In his interview with ITV, Phillips said he sought medical attention and determined that his arm, while swollen, had not been broken. He told the Tracker that he is planning to file a civil lawsuit against the LAPD.</p><p data-block-key=\"7uk5m\">“It’s looking back and thinking about what happened to me and not forgetting the thought of that bullet, perhaps, hitting me in my neck or in my eye and causing significant, life-changing injuries,” he said. “I should not have been struck by rubber bullets, because we were not a risk to the police or to anybody that night. It was completely and totally unjustified, and I expect appropriate acknowledgment and accountability for what happened.”</p><p data-block-key=\"e9nqo\">When reached for comment, the LAPD directed the Tracker to its social media accounts. But in a June 10 <a href=\"https://x.com/LAPDPIO/status/1932503206875312200\">news release</a> posted on social platform X about the previous evening’s protest response, the department did not address the use of munitions against identifiable press.</p><p data-block-key=\"fmp33\">Phillips told the Tracker that being targeted in the course of their journalistic work felt like an “attack on us trying to do our job.”</p><p data-block-key=\"alure\">“Press freedom, as we know, is the cornerstone of democracy,” he added. “Without the ability to question, investigate and report freely without fear or favor, truth is silenced and power goes unchecked.”</p><p data-block-key=\"7mk5g\"><i>Editor’s Note: This article has been updated to include additional comments and details from Noel Phillips.</i></p></div>",
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"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Phillips_CA_assault.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"hyljc\">Noel Phillips, a reporter for British broadcast channel ITV, was shot with a crowd-control munition while covering anti-deportation protests in Los Angeles, California, on June 9, 2025.</p>",
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